Marvel held their Marvel Studios panel this evening and as expected, packed the big Hall H at San Diego Comic-Con (SDCC). The topic, of course, are the upcoming movies in the Marvel Cinematic Universe. The panel opened with a montage of the previous movies, then started its content with a small topic…

*note there are descriptions of footage here so if you are sensitive to that, you have been warned*

First up was talk about the upcoming Ant-Man movie. The big news from that (other than it's still happening) was that it was confirmed that Darren Cross (played by Corey Stoll) will also be playing Yellowjacket. Also, as rumored before, Evangeline Lily will be playing a character named Hope Pym, Hank Pym's (Michael Douglas) daughter (which they earlier referred to as "Hope Van Dyne"). Cross is Pym's business partner but then takes the business in a different direction than Pym likes. Pym then recruits Scott Lang (Paul Rudd) to assist him as Ant-Man. The two lead actors were there along with Lily and director Peyton Reed.

Though the movie itself starts shooting August 18, they did film some test footage that they showed at the panel. It opens in a lab with Pym talking to a shrunken Lang, then cuts to a rooftop scene with a shrunken Ant-Man being persued. An ant lands and Ant-Man jumps on him whild Pym guides him via the helmet's commline. He has trouble with this ant, so Pym tells him to run and jump off the roof. A flying ant then catches him and it cuts to the Ant-Man logo.

Next up, the Avengers take the stage (except for Black Widow Scarlett Johansson who is expecting soon and director Joss Whedon who is nursing a knee injury, though they both appeared for the audience in video form). Each enter in their own fashionable way including newcomers Quicksilver (Aaron Taylor-Johnson), Vision (Paul Bettany), Ultron (James Spader), and Scarlet Witch (Elzabeth Olsen). The cast did a bit of chit chat with Elizabeth Olsen almost saying the word "mutant" and getting chided for it.

SDCC 2014 Avengers cast panel appearance

As previously mentioned, Whedon appeared via video and presented some Avengers: Age of Ultron footage. The footage opens during a gathering (party?) of the Avengers in civilian garb, all taking turns trying to lift Thor's hammer. None of them can do it of course, but Captain America thinks it may have moved a little when he tried. They are then interrupted by a large noise. An old Iron Man suit controlled by Ultron booms "There is only one path to peace… Your extinction!" The footage then cuts to a montage: scenes of battle, explosions, Banner in the woods, and the Hulkbuster armor doing battle with the Hulk. Ultron in his true form appears and says "Look, no string on me". The footage ends with Tony Stark in what looks like a wasteland with all of the Avengers lay beaten around him.

Robert Downey Jr. then teases the audience "The thing about Marvel, is that they've always got the next big thing up their sleeve…" Then Josh Brolin (Thanos) took the stage wearing an Infinity Gauntlet.

After a bit of comedy, the cast leave the stage. President of Marvel Studios Kevin Feige did have one more short presentation. He introduced "a couple of guys in London" who wanted to say "hi". On screen were Guardians of the Galaxy director James Gunn and Star-Lord (Chris Pratt). They appeared to confirm the rumors that Guardians of the Galaxy 2 (not final title) is a lock and coming out on July 28, 2017! That's the first of the future movie dates previously announced.

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